Sitting in Limbo
by thesparepart
Summary: Elizabeth and John travel off world to celebrate the first year of an alliance with a people they save from the Wraith, but after an accident fail to make it to the party. Sparky ] There's a bit of everything here including romance, mystery and angst.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is just something I had started sometime last year after a really freaky dream and was left to gather dust for a few months for some reason or another (probably my short attention span - whoops!), but now I've finally gotten around to finishing it off. So have a read, and see if you like. There's eight chapters in total - most of which are finished - so updates will be regular. There's no spoilers in here so it's safe for everyone to read, however there are a few vague references on things some characters have said in an off hand way that you may or may not spot. Unfortunately I do not have a beta so mistakes are all mine. Oh yeah, this will be a Sparky fic, so if that's not your thing, turn back now. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** You know I don't own Stargate.

* * *

Sitting in Limbo. 

When the door to the lab opened Rodney could see two sets of feet approaching his work station and considering who they belonged to, he was thinking about staying put on the floor behind his desk. Then again, if he was discovered on hands and knees with his nose to the floor, the fact that he is looking for a tiny piece of the device he was working on, would be immediately forgotten and he would...

"Rodney is that you down there?"

Damn, too late. He rushed to his feet to greet the new comers. "Elizabeth, I was, ah, never mind. Do you need something?"

She stopped on the other side of the work desk and put her hands to rest on it's cool surface. "Yes, actually. We just wanted to remind you that it's tomorrow that John and I will be going off world, and you will be charge of the city."

"What? I thought that wasn't for another couple of days yet?"

Elizabeth shook her head a little annoyed that he'd managed to forget their plans since the conversation they'd had last week.

"This is really bad timing Elizabeth, I'm in the middle of a very important experiment..."

"Yeah, we saw how busy you were."

Ah, there it is. He knew it wouldn't take long for him to get his two cents in. "I had dropped something Colonel. I was trying to retrieve it before somebody came in and stood on it."

"Don't worry Rodney," Elizabeth jumped in, "you won't need to do anything special, it's just to let everyone know if they have a problem, there's still someone they can come to. You won't even have to leave your lab if you're lucky," she assured him.

"Oh well, in that case have a nice trip." Rodney was about to dismiss them, but a question came to mind. "Hang on, where is it you're going again?"

"Glad to know you care," John said. "We're going to see Talen."

"Why?"

"It's been one of their years since we first made contact and they would like to honour us," Elizabeth informed him.

"Yeah, they're throwing us a party!" John said smugly.

"What? And they didn't invite anyone else?" Rodney sounded a little put out.

"I thought you were very busy?" John asked innocently.

"It's not a party, Rodney," Elizabeth corrected. "Besides, they have limited resources as it is. It wouldn't be fair if we all showed up."

"No I suppose not. How long are you going to be gone?"

"We'll be leaving at 0930 and we should only be gone a day."

"Day and a half at the most," John added. "We're not too sure what they've got planned, so we'll stay the night if things go on too long to make it back to the gate during the day."

"Okay, well, enjoy your trip. I'll see you when you get back. Now if you'll excuse me..." Rodney disappeared behind his desk again in search of the thing he'd dropped.

* * *

The stargate winked out behind them as John and Elizabeth walked down the stone stairs at the base of the ring. The usually bright, warm sunshine was having trouble breaking through the grey clouds as it crept up over the far horizon. John sighed as he surveyed the area, it didn't look like the weather had any plans for improving today. 

"Guess we're early," John said. They had previously arranged with Talen to meet at the gate but there wasn't a soul in sight. "Let's make a start, see if we can save them from coming all the way up here."

With a nod from Elizabeth they headed off towards the path leading down to the village.

"So, do you think what they say round here is true?" John asked.

The question was rather vague, but she knew what he was implying . This wasn't the first time John had asked her about these people and their beliefs concerning the afterlife. According to them, at the time when a person is crossing over from this life into whatever lay beyond, they had the unique ability to manipulate what would await them when they got there. So if a person were to believe their spirit was commended into the hands of some deity or higher power when they died, they could make it happen. The same went if someone was to believe any awareness they had in this life simply ended with their death.

Elizabeth had found this fascinating as did many people on Atlantis, civilian and military alike, and had been drawn into a mass debate in the commissary late one night when she had gone for coffee. Time had escaped her that night and after several hours she'd had to drag herself away only so she could get some sleep before she was due back in her office in the morning.

"I don't think there's really anyway to prove or disprove it. I mean let's face it, if you were to find out for sure, it would be a bit late to do anything about it. Besides I think the whole idea is very comforting. What about you?"

John wasn't given a chance to reply, as a shout of childish glee caught his attention and he turned to find the source. They had just rounded a bend in the path when two young boys who had been jogging up towards them had seen them, picked up their pace and came powering up to greet them.

"John, Elizabeth, you came back!" The eldest called as he came to a stop just inches from colliding with John.

"We promised we would," John replied ruffling the boy's hair. "How have you been Derrel?"

When they had first come to this world, Derrel and his younger brother, Tobis, had just lost both their parents in the latest Wraith culling. What was left of their home was no more than charred wood and rubble, and the rest of the village had fared no better. It had been the worst culling these people had ever seen for many generations, leaving a few handfuls of people to rebuild and start again. Without the intervention of John and his team, their chances of survival were less than good to say the least.

"I am learning the skills Talen has been teaching to us. He says I will be a master in the art of farming one day!"

"A master? Is that so? Well, way to go kid. I'm proud of you. Speaking of Talen, where is he? I thought he'd be here to meet us, surely we're not that early?"

"Tobis and I ran ahead, but Talen is accompanied by Marai, they are still on their way."

Tobis, who had been happy up until this point to stay behind his big brother, still a little shy, crept forward and pulled on Elizabeth's pant leg to get her attention.

"Hello Tobis," she said as she bent down to see him. "You've grown since we last saw you."

"I have?" Asked the little boy. "That must be because it was my birthday last week. I'm five years old now." He held out all the fingers on one hand to show her.

"Wow. In that case, happy birthday for last week," she told him with a smile. To think this child was close to dying when she first knew of him and to see him now, happy and healthy again warmed her heart.

"Okay, how about we go and find Talen and Marai?" John suggested. "Save them from walking all the way here."

"Sure." Derrel clasped one of John's hand and started pulling him in the direction he had come from.

Elizabeth stood and offered her hand to Tobis, who readily accepted it and proceeded to rush after John and his brother.

They had offered to take Talen, a simple farmer and the others who had thrust him into the position of the leader of their small band, back to Atlantis. The Athosians had offered to take them under their wing and help them back onto their feet, but they had chosen to remain here, in their ancestral homeland. Clearly it was a choice well made. Talen and his people, the Somnium, had recovered much of what was lost. Set in the beautiful, yet hostile, ancient mountains, the challenge to regain their way of life had proved difficult, but homes had been rebuilt, seeds were sown, the daily routines their lives followed had once more returned and the people seemed to be happy. The Wraith had not come again, maybe they thought all were either taken or killed in the last culling, but no one wished to question why they had been granted this small mercy.

The terrain was just as bad as they remembered. The Stargate was located about two miles away from where the village lay at the bottom of the mountain and the climb was a hike and a half when you had fifty pounds of gear strapped to your back. Thankfully, this time their load was a lot lighter, but this was the wet season, which meant the ground was soggy and sucked at their boots with every step. John and Elizabeth, led by Tobis and Derrel, nimble as mountain goats, had met Talen and Marai half way down the rocky mountain side and with them their baby daughter, Aleena.

Marai had refused to be waited on during the last days of her pregnancy and had continued to help in some way rebuild her home. Because of this, she had gone into labour on a trip back from the stargate and so Aleena had been the first child born, just a month after the culling and she was delivered by Dr. Beckett on the wayside of this same precarious, muddy trial. Her birth had giving hope to all the people here that one day they would reclaim their lives.

"Colonel Sheppard, Dr Weir, I see the boys found you," Talen welcomed them. "You do us a great honour by visiting our people."

"The honour is all ours," John assured him while firmly shaking hands.

"It's a pleasure to see you again," Elizabeth said. "You and your people have achieved so much in such little time."

"Ah, I fear we would not be alive if you had not come when you did. And for that we will forever be in your debt. Please, if you would, let me show you just what we have been able to accomplish, with the second chance you have given us."

They began their journey down the rest of the mountain at an easy pace, the sky was steely grey now and the fine drizzle that had been in the air before was getting heavier as they went. Before long the light rain had developed into a cold driving force and from there it progressed into something worse still.

"If I knew it was gonna be this bad, I would have brought my wetsuit!" John shouted over the horrendous din.

Elizabeth had looked back over her shoulder to throw him a grin, taking her eyes off the track for just a second and missed seeing the massive sludgy puddle before her foot was lost beneath it's murky depths. Not finding the ground where it should have been knocked her off balance, she slid backwards fully expecting to land flat in the mud, but a pair of strong arms caught her at the last minute.

"Whoa, easy there! You nearly ruined that uniform," John teased as he helped her up right.

Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow at that. They were all completely drenched. Every item of clothing they were wearing was saturated, not to mention their legs were sprayed with mud for good measure. "Thanks. The uniform might be unsalvageable, but at least you saved my dignity!" The though of walking into the settlement covered head to toe in mud was highly embarrassing and a fate she'd want to avoid if she could.

A distant rumbling coming from higher up the mountain side caught her attention then. "John, did you hear that?"

He had and had turned his head to face the source of the noise, he answered, "Yeah, maybe it was thunder."

Elizabeth was about to say that was all that was missing from this trek, but the noise came again, louder this time. "John I don't think that's thunder, I can almost feel it through the ground..." Her words trailed off as they both realised with horror what the sound was.

"Landslide!" John shouted as he grabbed her arm and they began to run.

The others had gotten a little ahead from them but they reached them as another boom could be heard a lot closer this time. Talen and his wife needed no explanation and ushered them and the two young boys down the hill at a breakneck pace. Directing them into a cavern that faced down the mountain, Talen stopped and braced his arms on his knees as he took a second too breathe. "We cannot out run it. We would never make it to the bottom in time. This is our only hope."

"Talen, are you sure?" John quizzed him. "This isn't very deep and if the amount of mud coming towards us is as big as it sounds, it could swamp this place and bury us alive!"

"I am sure, our chances are slim, but outside we will surely die. We can only pray the ancestors will protect the village."

Aleena was not amused at being so roughly treated and had no qualms about making her complaint known, her shrill cries rebounding off the walls.

"Okay, well lets everyone get back as far as we can. Derrel, Tobis, find the place furthest away from the opening," John instructed the boys. He tucked them in as far as he could, knowing it would be of little use if the flowing debris found its way in here.

The ground was beginning to shake harder and Elizabeth found she was trembling at the thought of being entombed in this place. Her thoughts went back to the conversation she and John were having before the boys found them. He hadn't answered her question then, and now she wondered how he felt about it. She really didn't want to die in here. She was scared. "John?"

He was there beside her, pulling her back against the wall of the cavern, trying to shield her with his body for all the good it would do. The gesture didn't go unnoticed though and she clung to him, truly believing these were going to be the last moments of their lives. She saw how Talen and Marai had adopted a similar position in niche near to them, the baby between them. There was a temptation to say something to John then, tell him thank you, tell him... But there was no more time.

The mountain gave another great shudder. John shouted, "This is it!" He held her tight and then the world crashed in around them.


	2. Chapter 2

John sat staring at the traffic lights at the intersection. Red was blinding him. It bore into his retinas, it was all it could see. He forced himself to blink and look anywhere but at the light. He felt confused and tired as he began to take in his surroundings. His hands were on the steering wheel of the people carrier and outside was still dark, the new day not yet begun. The green hilly landscape was familiar, but at the same time he had no idea where he was or where he was going. Strangely, this knowledge, or lack thereof, did not disturb him. He was quite content to sit and wait for the lights to change. A presence, peaceful and reassuring appeared in the passenger's seat next to him, he looked towards it.

"Elizabeth," he smiled at her. He was sure she hadn't been sitting there before. In fact he was positive he'd had the car all to himself a moment ago, but he felt happier now that he knew she was with him.

Elizabeth had jumped at the sound of her name. She had been in a trance, just staring at the traffic lights. "John? Where are we?" She frowned, not at all comfortable about being unable to recognise exactly where they were.

He continued to smile at her as he took her hand and she felt a little better. She must have dozed off while they were driving, that would explain why she felt so disconnected for a second.

"Its okay, I'm not sure where we are, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. I'm just waiting for the lights to change."

It was puzzling, his words didn't provide her with any of the answers she needed to know, and she should have been worried if John didn't know where they were either, but they seemed to resonate what she was feeling too. The road was clear in all directions, devoid of people and traffic and they could have easily run the lights, knowing they'd safely make it across without being caught. Something held them in place though, the red glare telling them it wasn't time yet, they must wait.

He released her hand so his own could reach up to her face and catch a lock of her hair that had fallen in front of her eyes and tuck it back behind her ear. When he had moved his hand, something on his finger had shone in the red glow. They'd both seen it and sought out the source. It was a gold band, resting securely on his wedding finger. Something in the back of John's mind wanted him to ask when he got that, but when Elizabeth raised her left hand and revealed a matching ring, the answer seemed all too obvious and realised he was likely to offend his wife if he admitted he couldn't remember marrying her.

The notion was swept away and replaced with the impulse to touch her. She seemed to feel it too and she reached out to take his left hand in hers, interlacing their fingers. He lent forward wrapping his free arm around her back and embraced her as well as the seat belts strapping them in would allow. Resting his tired head in the crook of her neck, he breathed in, inhaling her warm sent and it seemed to revive him. He felt her other hand come up and cradle the back of his head, fingers running through his short hair. They pulled back and her finger nails gently tugged at the soft skin at the nape of his neck. Searching her eyes he saw a mischievous gleam that only served to make his heart start to race and his hand begin to wonder. Drawing her close again, he planted small kisses along her jaw, starting just below her ear and making his way to her mouth, teasing her first before he committed and stole the breath from her lips.

Neither heard the stirring coming from the back seat until a sleepy voice demanded to know, "Mom, are we there yet?"

The temperature had jumped a few degrees in the front of the car and Elizabeth couldn't help but blush when she realised they weren't as alone as she thought. "Busted!" She whispered into John's ear, but when she looked at him there was a silent promise that as soon as they arrived at their destination, they'd pick this up again when they wouldn't be interrupted.

John was a little taken aback, he thought he was over making out in cars, but if that was just them fooling around while they waited for the lights to change, he wanted to get home right now. As soon as the kids were in bed and... Hang on a second. Kids? Could that be right? He spun in his chair so he could check the back seat and sure enough, there were his kids. Reality seemed to clash with some distant memory battling for the right to be correct, but he couldn't argue with what he saw. The memory faded and the faces of his children loomed large as life in front of him, all three of them. Two boys and a baby girl. His eldest, Derrel, had woken up and uttered the four words every parent dreads when embarking on a road trip.

Elizabeth leaned back to pat his leg, "Shh, we'll be there soon," she soothed him. She had told him with such absolute certainty and it would have even convinced John if he hadn't already known she didn't have a clue where they were. "Try to go back to sleep sweetie, okay."

Derrel was more curious than sleepy now and he wanted to know why they had stopped if they were so close to where they were going. "What are we doing here?" he asked his parents.

"We were just waiting for the lights to change son," John told him. The last word felt oddly foreign in his mouth as he spoke it, though he couldn't understand why.

"But the lights are green dad. We can go now, can't we?"

Both Elizabeth and John turned to look out the windscreen and sure enough the lights had changed. The glaring red beam had been replaced and they were now bathed in a calm green. Go. The word rang out to him and John thought he should remember why it stirred a feeling of such sorrow.

The multitude of bizarre memories that weren't quite memories and the peculiar feeling that there were things he should know that weren't so forthcoming as he would like, made him anxious. This road, wherever it was leading was getting weirder by the second and by his reckoning, it was high time they all got out of here.

"Yes, we can go now. Is everyone buckled up?"

A chorus of 'yes!' came back to him, so he eased his foot down on the pedal before these damn lights decided to change again.

The world outside was eerily quiet, there was no pre-dawn chatter from any animal you'd expect to hear in such a rural area. Travelling down the same road that started at the traffic lights, there hadn't been any turn offs along the way, John just hoped this was the right way and they didn't end up doubling back. Trees lined the road on each side, thick enough to obscure their view for any significant distance, but at least the sun was starting to peek over the distant hills.

Rounding a large corner, the trees gave way to open fields and the winding road began a descent giving them the first look at where they were headed. Tucked away in the base of a gently sloping valley, a huge house sat in a cleared area all on its own. It wasn't quite a mansion, but it was close. From here down to the house it was all rolling grassland, where the road they were on ended in a dirt trail that led up to the front door. They could just about see at the rear of the house, there was a generous amount of room for a back yard before a variety of vegetation closed the area off.

All three kids were wide awake now, the two boys stretching forward to get a better look. They were awe struck at the size of the place, they'd never seen a house this big before. The excitement was too much to keep bottled up for much longer and suddenly they exploded into giddy conversation about what they were going to do first, where they were going to explore and most importantly, who was going to have the biggest room!

The car had barely stopped before both boys had their seat belts off and were leaping out, not staying long enough to close the doors behind them, to race up the drive way.

Elizabeth was pleased the boys had accepted this place so easily, she didn't know how long they'd be staying here and she wanted them to feel comfortable in their new surroundings. Their happy shouts had allied any fear of them not settling in, but still they hadn't familiarised themselves with everything yet so she cautioned them, "Be careful you two, just take it easy, there's plenty of time to explore."

They slowed slightly for a second as they called back, "Okay, we'll be careful!" Then made a mad dash to see who would be first through the front door.

She looked at John who was watching her as he unstrapped their daughter from her car seat. "They won't be happy until they've been through every closet in every room."

"At least they won't get bored," he told her as he came around the car to stand by her. He looked at the little girl nestled in his arms as she tried to catch the zip on neck of his sweatshirt. "But what about you Aleena? While your brothers are playing would you like to take a nice long nap so your mother and I can spend some time alone?" He wiggled his eyebrows hopefully at Elizabeth, but Aleena had her own ideas. She wanted some attention too and proceeded to slap her little hands on her father's face to let him know it.

"I guess we'll have to shelve that idea," he pouted, sticking his bottom lip out at the baby which she promptly made a grab for. "Oh, you missed! I'm too quick for you." Aleena slapped a chubby hand on his face again, so John lifted her up in the air, dangling her above his face and she let out a squeal of delight.

Elizabeth rested against the side of the car and laughed as she watched her daughter and husband. Each time John threw her up, Aleena would giggle, trusting her father implicitly to bring her safely back into his embrace. After a minute John caught Elizabeth watching their antics and moved closer to her, slipping an arm around her and planted a kiss on her temple. "I'm sorry, did you want a go?"

She smiled up at him, marvelling at how much she adored this man next to her. Returning his gesture, she put her arms around his waist. "Maybe later," she teased

"I don't know if I can wait that long," John breathed seductively into her ear as he closed in on what little space there was between them.

"I could give you a little something to help bind you over..."

"What do you have in mind?!" John grinned, realising the heat he had felt when they had kissed in the car before, had returned with a vengeance.

Elizabeth snaked a hand up his arm and into his hair so she could pull his head down to meet her, but before she could show him just what she meant, there was a shout from the front door.

"Mom, dad, did you know we've got a swimming pool!"

"Looks like you're gonna have to wait," she sighed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She grabbed his hand and gave it a tug. "Come on, lets go in."


	3. Chapter 3

The house was amazing, from the outside you'd never have thought there was so much room.

"Wow, it's like it's Timelord technology," John gushed after they'd had a brief look around downstairs.

"What?" Elizabeth asked a little puzzled at the reference.

"You know, Dr Who...The Tardis..."

She just looked at him blankly.

"It's bigger inside than outside! Come on you must have seen Dr Who?"

"I was never a fan of that show," she told him.

"You're kidding? Ah, you don't know what you missed."

"Right," was all she said on the matter. "So, breakfast is in order I think. Is anyone hungry?"

"Sure if you can find the kitchen."

At that, Derrel looked at his brother, "We found it already, didn't we?"

"Yeah, it's through here," Tobis agreed. Each boy grabbed one of Elizabeth's hands and started pulling her towards the kitchen.

Upon arriving the boys let go of her and went to take a place at the family sized dining table. John came in behind her and deposited Aleena in the high chair, then blew a raspberry on her cheek eliciting another squeal.

Elizabeth opened the massive refrigerator to find it packed to the gills with every kind of food they could want or need and last a couple of weeks at least and she hadn't even looked in the pantry yet. "Wow, they anticipated our every need," she said, but the moment the words passed her lips, it felt wrong somehow. Ghostly finger tips crept up her spine and sent her shivering.

John saw her try to shake it off and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you cold or something?"

She looked around the kitchen, Aleena was happily munching on her fingers while Tobis and Derrel were engaged in an insane staring competition, each trying to make the other blink first. John was waiting for her to answer.

"No. I'm fine, someone just walked over my grave, that's all."

After breakfast each of them set out to take a better look around the house and to find a bedroom for them all. The boys ran ahead, still excited about exploring the house. John couldn't help but notice that every room was furnished and in a style that agreed with his own tastes. There were wooden floors and panelling along the bottom half of the walls, while the top half was painted white in the hallways and in some of the grander rooms meant for receiving guests. Decorative items dispersed throughout the rooms, just enough to throw in some colour and break things up, but no clutter or junk. The whole place was elegant, though it wasn't like a show house where you were afraid to touch anything in case it broke. It offered a certain amount of luxury and still it looked homely and lived in, you wouldn't mind letting your kids play in this house. And knowing his kids, play they would.

He couldn't imagine what anyone would need all these rooms for - he could have spent months just searching through everything. They'd seen some of the downstairs that held an entrance hall a living room and the kitchen with an adjoining dining area and the pool around back. There were still many other rooms to see, but it could wait. The second floor kept the master bedroom, a nursery, a room each for the boys and there was still plenty of space that could serve as guest quarters. Everything was perfect, they couldn't have done better if they had designed the house themselves.

As they made their way up yet another hall, John tried to think back on a time when he'd metioned to someone about coming here, but as hard as he thought, the first time he remembered this house was on the drive. Even then, it took actually seeing this place to know it was where they had been headed.

Elizabeth had been walking next to him and recognised the signs of a headache on John's face. His eyes had narrowed and he seemed distant as he scrubbed a hand over his forehead.

"You don't look too good John." She rubbed her fingers softly up and down his back.

"Yeah, instant headache. Don't know what brought that on."

"Probably from driving all night. Let me take Aleena and you can go get some Tylenol. There's some in the cabinet in our bathroom."

"Thanks," he said and passed the baby to Elizabeth. Watching them continue down the corridor for a second, he called back to her, "You're as bad as the boys, you know that?"

She stopped and faced him. "What do you mean?"

"You thought they'd be in every closet in every room," he told her using the same words she said to him outside. "You even know where the Tylenol is kept. Looks like we know where they get their sense of curiosity from!"

He gave her a smile and turned to retrace his steps back down the hall when he heard her say to the baby. "Your daddy's getting forgetful in his old age, We haven't been in that bathroom yet." Then she disappeared around the corner.

Her words stopped him cold. Something wasn't right here. How the hell could she know there would be pain killers in there if she hadn't seen that room? He rushed down the hall into their room, through to the bathroom and opened the cabinet. Sure enough, there sat the bottle of Tylenol, just where she said it would be. A bolt of pain shot through his head, making him forget why he cared. It was a bottle of pills in a bathroom cabinet, predicting that they'd be there was like guessing the milk would be kept in the fridge. Or so he told himself. Nothing strange about that, right?

He opened the bottle, knocked back a couple of the pills and splashed some cold water on his face, deciding to forget about it. Wondering back into his bedroom he looked around again seeing the same things that were there before. Dressers, clothes draws, closets, king size bed, windows and double doors on the far side of the room. They hadn't looked into everything before or they'd have been there all day, but now the double doors John had presumed was another storage space seemed to beckon him to take a peek inside.

A hand on each of the doorknobs, John pulled the doors open and swore what he saw behind them had definitely not been there earlier. Surely he would have seen it? Maybe he just wasn't paying attention. Staring at it for a minute, his mind began to formulate a plan and soon he was padding out of the room, heading for the kitchen, any trace of his headache gone. Hopefully he would find what he was looking for and could hide it away before Elizabeth or the kids came looking for him.

The rest of the day had consisted of a picnic in the woods, bike rides exploring the grounds around the house, dinner outside on the patio in the back garden and a dip in the swimming pool. John played water tag with the boys, while Elizabeth sat in the shallow end with Aleena happily splashing her arms, soaking herself in the process.The perfect end to the perfect day.

After a good deal of time and a promise they could go back in the pool tomorrow, they'd finally got the boys back in the house to get ready for bed. John had just put Aleena down for the night, now he tiptoed out of her room and down to his own. With any luck Elizabeth would still be seeing to the boys and he'd still have time to sort out his surprise. Taking the things he'd found in the kitchen earlier, John went back to the double doors at the far end of his bedroom, he went about his preparations and closed the doors over when he was finished. Elizabeth was going to love this.

He barely had a second to spare once he finished, when Elizabeth came in and promptly dropped down on the bed. John came and sat down beside her, stroking her hair back from her face. "Did the boys go down all right?"

"They're in their rooms, but I'm not sure how long they'll stay in their beds. I thought all the activity they've had today would have taken it's toll, but they're still climbing the walls."

"They'll settle down soon enough."

"As long as they stay in their rooms I don't care if they stay up all night! What about Aleena?"

"She went down without a fuss."

Elizabeth sat up and leaned into John's chest, "You must have a magic touch," she sighed

He wrapped his arms around her and just held her for a minute then said, "If you're not too tired, I have a bit of a treat for you."

Curiosity piqued, Elizabeth looked up at him, "Have you now?"

"Yup. Here, stand up and close your eyes," he instructed her.

She did as he bid her and he led her over to the double doors, stopped and opened them. "Ready? Okay, open your eyes."

"Oh my God! Where did this come from?" She gasped.

"You like it?"

"I love it! I can't believe I didn't notice this before."

"I didn't either. It was only when I came to get the Tylenol this morning, I got nosy and discovered it. Come on take a seat."

John led her through the doors out onto the little balcony that overlooked the front of the house. There was a small table set up, a comfy chair to each side of it and a silver bucket chilling a bottle of white wine. Flowering vines clung to the white stone railing, where John had set a row of thick candles, releasing the subtle sent of vanilla as they burnt in the night air. Elizabeth was amazed. John poured them a glass of the wine then sat in the other chair. They both remained quiet and contemplative as they sipped on the wine and relaxed, not needing to speak to know what the other was thinking. The air was still warm and the sky was lit up by the stars on display. They'd never felt more at peace, they could have stayed out here forever.

When the wine was gone and the air began to chill, Elizabeth moved. She stood, blew out the candles and beckoned John up onto his feet as well, a sleepy smile on his face he came willingly.

"Did you like your surprise?" He asked again, pulling her closer into an embrace.

"Yes, thank you," she said melting into him, gently kissing his neck, his jaw line, his chin. "But I think its time we went in now."

All the reply she got was a deep rumbling noise coming from the back of his throat, so she backed him up, continuing her ministrations, guiding him through the balcony doors, into their room until they fell onto the bed.

The heat was back as fingers searched and lips kissed, hands caressed and nails scratched. Clothes were discarded leaving just them, skin touching skin, no words spoken, just the feel of their bodies.

Their endeavour left them sated and spent, the bed sheets twined around their sweaty bodies. The cool breeze that came in through balcony doors made the exposed skin on Elizabeth's back rise into goose bumps and sent a pleasant shiver down her body. John felt her movement and pulled the sheets up higher as she nuzzled into him for warmth. Placing an arm around her shoulders he hugged her tight for a second. "I love you, y'know," he told her.

Elizabeth pushed herself up onto her elbow so she could see his face. The darkness hid his most of his features, but she could tell he was looking back at her, she could always tell when his eyes were on her. Putting a hand to his cheek she told him, "Yeah, I know. And you know I love you too." Leaning over she touched her lips to his, kissing him softly, then settled her head on his chest and there they stayed with arms and legs wrapped around each other while they drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The early morning rays cast a shaft of light in through the balcony and for a while Elizabeth watched as it made it's way across the carpet, closer and closer until it hit the bottom of the valance sheet on the bed. John was still dozing, although lightly and if she moved to get up now she knew she'd wake him. Aleena would soon be calling out to them, demanding to be changed and fed, but for now Elizabeth just wanted to lay here with him.

She rolled over so she could see his face. Studying every detail, a lent innocence and renewed youth, but even as he slept there was still the shadow of a burden he carried, like he couldn't find the peace he needed within his dreams. She wondered what it was that persisted to trouble his mind as he sought rest. The same as any man she supposed. The need to care for and protect his family, provide for them and keep them safe. She could have told him he needn't worry. She could think of no man like him, no man she loved more and trusted him with her life and that of their children. His presence in her life was what made her most happy and she couldn't imagine being without him.

With a single finger tip she drew the outline of his face, along the hair line, around the chin, down the nose, across the lips. She stopped there when his hand reached out for hers, holding it still as he kissed her fingers then brought her hand to his chest, keeping it close to the place over his heart. She thought he would open his sleepy eyes and speak to her, but the brief stirring came to no more, so she remained still, content in just watching him while she had the chance.

Her mind wandered aimlessly through the random thoughts in her head, about everything and nothing, until she started thinking that she couldn't remember the last time she and John been able to have a night like last night and now just to lay in bed like this. They were usually so busy, something always needing their attention.

She smiled to herself, relishing in the way her body ached in all the right places, it really had been wonderful. She had been surprised at the time because the experience felt like it was brand new for them being together. She had told herself not to be so foolish. John was her husband and they had three wonderful children together, the eldest eight years old. How could being intimate with her husband, after all this time, be anything but familiar? The idea hadn't stuck with her very long as the sensations John was invoking within her forestalled any other awareness.

But now, clear headed, the same thoughts returned to her. They had been like new lovers, still discovering the secrets of each other's bodies. How could that be? What was wrong with her to make her feel like that?

"You can frown all you like, but you're still beautiful." John was watching her as she stared, unseeing, at their hands on his chest.

"What? Oh, John, I thought you were still dozing. Good morning." She lent closer and brushed a kiss over his lips.

"Morning. So, what were you frowning about?"

"It was nothing." Elizabeth didn't really want to tell John what she had been thinking, even if she was curious to know if he had felt like that too.

"You don't lie very well in the morning Elizabeth."

Okay time to forget this silly idea once and for all and convince John nothing was up too. She rubbed a hand across his chest and swung a leg over both of his in one swift movement. Sitting on his thighs she bent towards him, pressing her body to his and crushed a kiss to his lips. Her hair fell onto his face and he pushed it back with a hand on each side of her head. Well it sure felt good even if she still couldn't quite shake the sensation that this was new for them. She sat back up bringing him with her.

Her arms around his shoulders, she lowered her head from her raised position on his lap to put her mouth next to his ear, she tugged on his lobe with her teeth. "Make love to me John," she pleaded.

There was still a troubled look John could see in her eyes and it worried him a little, but she didn't need to ask him again.

The morning that had started out so beautifully soon became dark and bleak. The grey clouds rolled over their little corner of the world and by lunchtime the few fat raindrops that fell in a warning of what was to come gave way to the full force of a torrential downpour. The fun and games out in the back garden came to an abrupt halt when they were all caught off guard at the sudden onslaught. Herding the boys in quickly as they could still wasn't fast enough to stop them from getting completely drenched and Elizabeth felt the sense of deja vu wash over her as she pulled the patio doors closed behind them.

For a moment she watched the rivulets of water course over the flag stones picking up the loose pieces of dirt, driving them down to where the soggy grass met the paving. Panic began to rise within her, she felt trapped, unable to tear her gaze off the flowing water outside. The hands that came to grasp her hips made her jump and she spun around coming face to face with John.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to give you a fright. You spaced out on me for a sec there. Where did you go?" He asked her.

She looked at him briefly, deciding if she should tell him. He hadn't really meant anything by his question, but something was starting to bother her about this place and she needed to know if he felt it too. She'd most likely sound crazy for saying it but why not, the worst he'd do is laugh it off.

"I was watching the rain as it ran over the paving and it sort of hypnotised me, I couldn't look away. And the more I watched, the more I was getting this weird feeling," she tried to isolate what that feeling was, but lacked the words to describe it. "It was almost like the image of the rain cleaning away all the dirt was part of a memory. One that won't come to the forefront of my mind."

Elizabeth looked at him expectantly, waiting for the corners of his mouth to crease up into a smile, wishing for him to make a funny comment to shrug it off and tell her if she didn't go change out of her wet clothes she'd catch a cold. But he did none of these things, instead his eyes glazed over, peering out though the streaked, blurry windows, trying to find what she had told him.

"I think I know what you mean," he muttered after a moment, not breaking his concentration with the world outside. "But there should be more."

This was not what she wanted to hear, she wanted him to tell her not to worry, relax and forget about it, but if he felt it too then something strange was going on. "More what?" There was a certain amount of understanding in what he said, but something still alluded her.

"I'm not sure. The scale feels off, things should be bigger."

Elizabeth knew the truth of it as soon as the words left his mouth and it scared her, mostly because she didn't know where they were getting this from. Wherever it was leading to, she didn't want to go there right now. The cold and damp had seeped thought her shirt, but she knew it was more than that causing her to tremble. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm herself, but to no use. She really needed to change. Any other time she would have jumped in a hot shower, though she'd settle for a big fleecy sweater for now.

"Come on John, we're both soaked, lets get changed," she implored him.

John continued to stare out the window a while longer, searching for something he didn't even know if he could find, before blinking himself back into the here and now and following Elizabeth upstairs to their room.

They didn't speak about what had happened, neither knowing what to say even if they wanted to. They changed in silence, Elizabeth found the big red fleece she had wanted and zipped it up to her chin. John had shooed Derrel and Tobis upstairs to get changed and now as he and Elizabeth came out of their bedroom they spotted him and ran up to them, struggling to carry a large box between them that rattled with every step.

"Dad! Look what we found!" Tobis cried excitedly.

"Wow what is that?" John asked, indicating the big yellow, plastic container though he was more impressed the boys had actually got changed and so quickly.

They clanked the box down on the floor and ripped off the lid to expose the contents within, then peered up at him with matching grins, obviously extremely pleased with themselves.

"K'Nex! I love this stuff!"

"Will you help us build it?" Derrel asked.

"You bet." John put the lid back on, lifted the box and headed down the hall towards Derrel's room. "So what will it be? Cars, motorbikes or helicopters?"

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile, John was more of a kid than the kids were. At least this would keep them busy for an hour or so, which was fine by her. Her daughter's nap time was up, but once she'd fed her, she could put her feet up and read while Aleena would amuse herself with her toys in the living room. And that's just what they did.

It was more than two hours until Elizabeth heard anything from the others. A door slammed and she could hear the boys hushing each other as they came down the stairs and ran over to where she sat curled up on the couch when they saw her. They jumped up, one on each side of her, forcing themselves under her arms in a futile attempt to hide from John, who was apparently coming to find them.

"Mom! We're hiding from dad!" Derrel informed her.

"I think he might find you if you stay here," she told them.

Derrel was struck with inspiration and leaned across Elizabeth without any consideration about what his bony elbow was poking and whispered to his brother, "I know where we can hide! Come on."

Footsteps were coming from the top of the stairs as John called out, "Here I come ready or not."

They clambered over Elizabeth and jumped back down from the couch to run off again. Tobis stopped and turned back, "Don't tell dad where we are!" he told her, then scampered away after Derrel.

John sauntered in from the hallway as Elizabeth bent to pick up the book that had been knocked off her lap. He dropped down beside her and sat back in the cushioned seat. He'd found the design to make a ferris wheel and had been sat on the floor hunched over the pile of K'Nex searching for all the right bits for hours and now his body was protesting at its ill treatment.

"Let me guess. You were having a ball playing with that new toy and the boys got bored sitting in one place for so long?" Elizabeth smiled, put a hand on his leg and he covered it with his own.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I was showing them the different things to make and they were into it for a while, but you know what they're like. Always running around."

"Yes, they told me they were hiding from you."

"They came down here?"

"I'm sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy. Looks like you're on your own."

"Thanks," he pouted. "Enjoy your book." He eased himself up off the couch, shoving his sleeves up his arms and headed for the entrance hall, just in time to hear bare feet slapping on the wooden stairs. He rushed after them, but wasn't in time to see which way the boys had gone and was left wandering around the empty halls.

There was another, smaller flight of stairs that lead to the third floor and they'd given the top level of the house a quick once over the other day but everywhere they had looked was empty. No doubt this is where the boys would be. John took the steps two at a time and immediately began opening the doors to stick his head inside each room. One by one he went through them all and still hadn't found his sons. Okay, maybe they hadn't come up here.

He was about to turn around and redirect his search downstairs, but he saw that the hall he was on turned around another corner when it looked like it was at an end. The boys would be sneaky enough to find this too and if there was a room down here, they'd most likely be here. He tiptoed the last few feet, intending on giving them a fright when he found them. He rounded the corner to find yet another door and reached out to grab the door knob. He yanked the door open and jumped over the threshold shouting, "Gotcha!"

The first thing he noticed was that he was definitely alone in here, the second was how cold it was. He shivered, pulling his sleeves back down to cover his arms. The room was a perfect circle, the door was strangely warped from the inside to fit the curve of the room. In the exact centre a metal railing rose in a semi-circle from between the wooden floor boards around an area where the ground gave way to expose a tight spiral staircase. There was a chain across the open part of the railing and on it hung a sign which read 'Caution. Wet Floor.'

John stepped closer and sure enough a puddle had amassed around the top stair, dripping down onto the steps below it. He couldn't see where the water had come form, there was no signs of a leek in the ceiling and the solitary window on the other side of the room was only letting in daylight. Edging even closer to the rim of the stairwell, he peered down into the hole hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever was down there, but it was completely dark. The temperature felt like it was dropping the nearer he got to the centre of the room. He considered going down to see what was there, but something made him hold back. Maybe later he could return with a flashlight and a thicker sweater.

Before he could do anything else he heard the voice of his youngest son calling out to him. He made up his mind, later when the kids were in bed, he'd tell Elizabeth what he'd found and come back. He rushed back out the room closing the door behind him and hurried down the hall before the kids could see what he found. John didn't want them coming anywhere near this place until he could take a good look around and make sure it was safe. This room was scoring high on his personal weird-o-meter.

He ran down the hall and nearly collided with the two boys as he took a corner, "Whoa! So there you are. You guys are the best hiders I know!" He congratulated them as he moved them away from the strange round room and back downstairs. "I was looking everywhere for you. How about we stop for now and go get something to eat?"

"Okay," Derrel said.

"I'm starving," Tobis added.

John was relieved they were more hungry than curious about where he had been and led them back down to the kitchen.

Elizabeth was lying on the bed, already in her pyjamas when John came in.

She hadn't been able to concentrate on what she was reading earlier and had ended up thinking about the last two days. The house, the children, John. Especially John. The images of the falling rain from this morning also danced in her vision and she tried again to explain, at least to herself what it meant, but the more she dwelt on it, the more the searing pain behind her eyes threatened to overwhelm her completely.

John had been watching her as they ate dinner and recognised the tension lines that creased the skin of her forehead as she fought to stave it off. He'd come over to her where she still sat long after the boys had cleared their plates away and giving her shoulders a quick rub, told her to go upstairs and lie down for a while, he'd take care of the children. She had taken him at his word and disappeared to their room. The light outside was dull, the black clouds still hovering overhead, but it hurt her eyes all the same. She closed the balcony doors and drew the curtains then lay on the bed, not bothering to get under the sheets. It wasn't her intention, but she had soon drifted off into a light fitful sleep.

When she woke, the sun had just finished its long trek across the sky to retreat under the cover of the dark hills in the distance. She was cold and desperately wanted to be warm, so she ditched her rumpled clothes and stepped in the shower, under the steaming water waiting for the heat to return to her body. Feeling refreshed and a little more relaxed than before she shrugged on her night clothes and took up the book she had started this afternoon. Elizabeth hadn't read more than a page when the door opened and John walked in, looking as tired as she felt.

"How are you feeling?" He asked coming to sit next to her.

"The headache is gone, but I feel really lethargic." She put a hand on his cheek as she looked into his eyes. "Thank you for looking after things."

"Anything for you," he told her. And he really meant it. He'd do anything for this woman.

A moment passed then he got up and went to the cabinet on his side of the bed, taking something out of the top draw. "I have to go check something out," he said turning back to see her.

"Does this something have anything to do with why you were so pensive after you were playing with the boys?" Elizabeth might have had a blinding headache, but she still knew when something was niggling at John. Judging by how he tensed up for a second when she asked him, she'd hit the mark.

John wasn't going to tell her when he saw how strained she looked at dinner, but the light had returned to her eyes and the usual sparkle he loved to see there was back. "Yeah. I found something."

Elizabeth didn't say anything, she just waited for him to go on.

"It's a room. It's completely empty apart from the spiral staircase right in the middle. It was too dark to see anything past the first few steps so I'm going back to have a look now."

"Why didn't you just go back before?"

He didn't say anything, so she answered for him.

"You don't think it's safe do you?"

"I don't know. I wanted to be sure before the kids found it, so I thought I'd wait until now."

"Well I'm coming with you." She was already up on her feet.

Now she was aware of what he had found, he knew he couldn't stop her from taking a look herself and if she was going to do it he was damn sure she wasn't going alone. "Okay. But dress warm."


	5. Chapter 5

Elizabeth had been confused when John had told her to dress warm and at first she had just put her dressing gown on top of her pyjamas, now she was glad he had convinced her to swap what she had been wearing for a pair of thick sweat pants and the fleece she'd had on earlier. She couldn't believe how cold this room was when they first stepped in and had stuffed her hands up under her arms to keep the cold out.

John flicked on the light and closed the door over. If anything it was even colder than before. He blew on his hands and rubbed them together as he moved closer to the centre with Elizabeth right next to him.

"This is just how I found it before," he told her.

"Did you notice when the door was open, none of the warmer air from the hall came in with us?" She asked. "It was like there's a barrier that won't let the heat through."

"Yeah I got that, but do you see, when we breathe out there aren't any vapour clouds forming?"

Elizabeth deliberately heaved a big breath out and watched in amazement how nothing happened. "Just making sure." She shrugged at John as he watched her critically as she confirmed what he said. She pointed down to the puddle around the lip of the stairs, "It's cold enough for that water to be frozen too. You said you couldn't tell where it was coming from?"

"No, there doesn't seem like there's anyway for it to be here, unless someone purposely put it there. I would have thought by now that at least some of it would have iced over or dried up or something, but it hasn't changed. Even though it's constantly dripping over the side."

Elizabeth shivered against the cold and something else as well. Just when she thought she had finally warmed up, John had brought her on a tour of a mysterious ice box. "I can see why you didn't want the boys to come wandering in here by themselves. Besides the risk of them slipping on the wet floor, it's just darn right weird in here."

"That's what I thought."

John dug the flashlight out of the back pocket of his jeans, turned it on and focused it on the dark stairwell. He still couldn't see anything past the first few steps. Elizabeth unclipped the chain strung across the railing so they could get closer. He had his foot on the top rung when John turned back to face her. "I'm gonna go down and take a look. I'll call you when I've made sure it's safe, then you can follow."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, I'm coming with you," she scolded him. What did he think he was going to find down there?

"Right," he ceded. "I didn't think you'd agree with that, but a man's got to try. Here, give me your hand," he held out his own to her, "there's not going to be much light and these stairs are tight."

This much she did agree to and was glad of the warmth he lent to her frozen fingers. Hand in hand they proceeded to make their way down into the dark room below.

John panned the beam from the flashlight around them as they stepped out of the niche where the stairs stopped. It was pitch black in here, but the light revealed a large table, chairs, cupboards and work tops. All this was extremely familiar to them both and as their eyes adjusted to the darkness it became all to obvious where they were.

"Oh my god..." Elizabeth started.

"We're in the kitchen!" John almost laughed. He was so sure when he found the room upstairs, whatever was down here wasn't going to be good. He glanced back to Elizabeth and could tell she was feeling just a little sheepish too. "Stay there, I'll go put the lights on."

He still needed the flashlight to see where he was going and it bounced around reflecting off the fridge and the sink as he walked the length of the room. He stopped and put his hand out to flick the switch, but he couldn't find it. He shone the light at the wall where he knew it should be but the wall was bare. He looked around making sure he hadn't got mixed up in the dark, but this was definitely the right place. "Well there's odd for you," he turned on the spot and flashed the light at Elizabeth so he could see her.

"What?"

"The switch for the lights. We keep it here right?"

"Yes, just inside from the door."

"Not anymore apparently."

"What do you mean, 'not anymore'? It's not like it can move." She edged slowly around the table, feeling her way along the work tops to stand next to him. John showed her the bit of the wall, where by all rights the light switch should be, but it wasn't there. "What the hell?!"

They both stood staring at the blank wall then John moved again. "I think I know where some candles are. That's if they haven't upped and gone too." He rummaged about in a cupboard and a minute later he had four chunky candles lit up and sat on the dinner table, flickering ghostly shadows on the walls. "There. If this wasn't so weird, it would be kind of romantic, don't you think?"

Elizabeth was still stuck on the fact that the light switch was gone and didn't answer him. "This has to be wrong," she muttered mostly to herself.

John had strolled over to the fridge and pulled it open, the light from inside flooded the room for a second, then he closed it again. "Yeah, I was getting that feeling. All the food from the fridge has disappeared."

"Excuse me?!" Elizabeth was incredulous. She came over and checked for herself and immediately wished she hadn't. It was bare. Not a thing was left. She needed to sit down.

John causally lent on the side of it and told her, "Not half an hour ago I was in here to get a glass of water and when I left the fridge was full and I used the switch that is now missing to turn off the lights."

"I don't understand what's going on."

"I know, neither do I."

"No, it's not just that. John, we came out of the pantry and the last time I checked, there wasn't a flight of stairs in there. And what's more is, we only went down one level, the kitchen is down two and on the other side of the house! That room upstairs should be over one of the spare bedrooms!"

"Well that can't be right, the layout of a house can't just change when it feels like it."

"And electrical fixtures don't disappear at will either!"

They both struggled to find some truth in what they were seeing but they couldn't make head nor tail of what had happened.

Elizabeth put her head in her hands, scrubbing her fingers over her face, then stopped when she realised her hands were warm again. "The air is warmer here too."

"I hadn't even noticed I wasn't cold any more," John confessed.

"The last two days have been bordering on strange, but this is just bizarre." Elizabeth rose from the chair and perched herself on the edge of the table.

"Strangle like how?" John asked coming to rest next to her.

"I don't know, little things. The rain this morning for one, the way the house seems to be suited to our wants and needs, have you noticed how we have everything we need here?"

"Yeah, everything but a light switch," he joked.

"I'm serious John," she chided him.

"Sorry. I picked up on that too though. And its not just that. If something we desire isn't evident at first, it soon appears, in a draw or in a closet, like it was there all along. That's how I got hold of a flashlight."

"You know, since we got here, I realised this is the first time when I've thought about you or the children, that I haven't had the worst headache."

"It gives you a headache to think about me?"

"John!" She wasn't in the mood to fool around right now.

"No, I wasn't being funny. I meant it. The same thing has happened to me a couple of times too."

They fell into silence again after their revelation. Elizabeth felt so tired and all this was confusing her to no end. She turned into John who obligingly wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. Feeling his touch she was reminded of how she had felt last night when they had made love and again in the morning as she willed herself to recognise the feel of their bodies as they melted together. Even now the feeling plagued her as she sat in her husbands arms. She had to tell him.

Straightening up to see his face cast in shadows, a hand played over his firm chest, smoothing down the material of his shirt, as she whispered, "There's something else."

The arm on her shoulder tightened pulling her closer and he kissed her temple. "I know."

"You mean you felt it too? Last night? This morning?"

"It felt... new," was all he could say, putting his cheek to rest on her head.

Elizabeth didn't know whether to be comforted by this or be even more scared. "Before last night, I can't remember a time when we've been together."

"No, me neither, but I do know, if nothing else, it felt right." He was rubbing small circles on her back and felt her whole body go rigid under his hand. "What is it?"

"John, I can't remember giving birth to our children!"

John searched though his memories, but couldn't find ones he wanted, that should be there. He couldn't remember her being pregnant or being there with her at the hospital or the first time they brought the new baby home. Birthdays, Christmas, holidays, first steps, lost teeth, small but important things in their lives he should know. It was all gone and disturbed him deeply. Elizabeth wouldn't know these things either and for a mother not being able to remember the experience of giving birth, not just once but three times, John thought it would be completely justified if she freaked out right about now.

She pushed herself up from the table and began pacing up and down the length of the room all the while muttering, "This can't be happening."

John didn't know what to do with himself. Somewhere within him a voice was urging him to take action and fight, but against what, who? The very foundation of his life was crumbling away as he sat in this dark room. It wasn't just his family he couldn't recall, but his life before that. His childhood, school years, his parents, meeting Elizabeth. He had an expensive, big family car and they were living in this huge, well furnished house, and they dressed in high end clothes, so he presumed at least one of them had a career to pay for all this. All this seemed to have started when they came here, to this house.

He sprung up to his feet like he'd be hit with a cattle prod.

"What? What is it?" Elizabeth demanded.

"What is the first thing about your life you can remember?" He asked her.

She closed her eyes thinking backwards from now, it only took a second to find what she was looking for. "The other day, we were sitting in the car, waiting for the lights to change."

"Nothing from before that comes to mind?"

"No, everything is blank until then. It's like my life began right at that moment."

"Me too."

"What does this mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe we have amnesia?"

"But we know what that is. We know how to walk, talk, cook, look after our children. We know each other."

"Okay, it's something like that. All I know is, this started that morning at the traffic lights and I intend on finding out what happened. We can't do very much for now and I think we're safe here, but in the morning we should get the kids in the car and take a drive."

"Right, we might be able to find a neighbour, anyone who can tell us where we are at the very least."

With a plan of action worked out both of them felt a little less helpless about their situation, but Elizabeth still couldn't get over not remembering having their kids, she felt like she was betraying them, failing them somehow.

John could read this in her. "Oh no you don't."

She just stood there, hanging her head, her arms wrapped around her.

"Hey, we are in no way to blame for any of this. Something has been done to us." He put his hands on her shoulders and she gazed back at him, tears gathering in her eyes threatening to spill down her face. "Come here."

He didn't give her a choice, he just stepped into her personal space and pulled her close to him. She wasn't the only one that felt guilty about this whole thing. "This is not our fault."

"I know, I just wish..."

"Yeah, me too. Me too. But tomorrow we're going to start working it out."

"Okay. Can we get out of here now? I just want to go to bed."

"Sure, come on."

He blew out the candles and got out the flash light again as they headed for the door. He gave the handle a pull, but nothing happened. He did it again, to the same result. "Figures. The door's locked."

"There's no lock on the kitchen door."

"Didn't think so, but usually we have food in the fridge and a light switch on the wall. We'll just go back up the staircase."

"If it's still there."

"See, we're starting to get the hang of this!"


	6. Chapter 6

Miraculously the door to the kitchen had unlocked itself during the night and the fridge had been restocked. The candles they had left out on the table had mysteriously put themselves away and when John checked the cupboard he found them completely untouched, not even a burnt wick to show for their use last night.

They were both up at the crack of dawn to get ready for the drive out of here, they didn't know how long they would be on the road so a hamper was made to last the whole day. They woke the children, fed them and dressed them, then packed them into the car with an assortment of toys to entertain them

"Okay everyone seat belts on," John instructed strapping himself in. "Right, are we ready?" He was really asking Elizabeth, but it was the Derrel who answered.

"Yes." His voice was laced with disappointment.

John turned in his seat to look at him. "What's the matter?"

"Can't we stay at the house? Why do we have to go for a drive?"

"Well, it's a nice day and we thought we'd go take a look around outside of our back yard. You never know, we might have some neighbours and you boys could have someone new to play with besides us. Wouldn't you like some new friends?"

"I suppose so," he said, but his face told a different story.

"Oh come on, it'll be an adventure." John tried to convince him, but he wasn't buying it. "We've got a picnic," he made a last bid offer to make it sound exciting.

"Okay, but when we get back, can we go swimming again?"

"Yeah dad, please." Tobis had perked up at the notion of going back in the pool. "You said you were going to teach us how to dive."

John was cornered with pleading faces, "Later, when we get back okay, but first we'll do a bit of exploring." He righted himself in the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. In his peripheral vision, he saw Elizabeth hiding a smug smile behind her hand. "What's so funny?"

She made a pathetic effort to disguise it, "Oh nothing," she assured him. "It just that the boys have you wrapped around their little fingers." She waved hers at him for emphasis.

"That's not true!" John protested trying to keep their conversation to themselves. The last thing he needed was his kids knowing he'd do just about anything they wanted. That could lead to no end of trouble.

"Right. I guess you were just taking one for the team?" She teased him.

"The team?"

John's eyes glazed over and he thought he saw the flash of a memory in his mind. Elizabeth touched his arm and he was jolted away from it.

"Hey, are you all right? Do you want me to drive?"

"No, I'm fine," he pulled out of the drive and headed up the road. "Besides, you don't have the gene to make it work"

Elizabeth, turned so she could watch both John and the road ahead. "I'm sorry, did you just say I 'don't have the gene'? What does that mean?"

"What?" John screwed up his face in disbelief. He didn't say that. Did he?

"You just told me I didn't have the gene to make the car work."

"I have no idea what that means," he told her honestly. "Maybe it has something to do with why we can't remember anything."

"You think?" Elizabeth was a bit skeptical about that, then again, they couldn't rule it out altogether.

"Sure, why not? Nothing else makes any sense round here."

The short drive up to the traffic lights was made in silence, the boys sat quietly, content for now to watch the scenery passing by outside and not even Aleena made a peep while she chewed on a teething ring. Making the trip in daylight this time showed this really was the only road down to the house. Once you were passed the lights, it was impossible to get lost, you just followed the road. As they approached the top of the hill, John slowed the car as it came to the intersection and spared Elizabeth a quick glance. The lights were out, neither the glaring red nor the calming green were patrolling the highway now.

"We came in that way right?" He indicated the road straight ahead.

"I think so, but I can't be sure."

"Looks good to me." He checked for cars coming in the other directions then slowly accelerated out.

"Any of this seem familiar to you?" Elizabeth asked after a minute down the road.

"Not really, just the same as the other road, trees, bushes, normal winding country lane."

"Yeah, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say this is the same road to the house."

Something in John's stomach churned, leaving his insides in knots. "Oh, now why do I have a really bad feeling about this?"

They took another big corner, the trees cleared, there were grassy fields, a slopping valley and tucked in at the bottom, stood the house.

"Oh my god..." Elizabeth sat forward in her chair not quite believing it.

"I didn't black out back there and turn the car around while no one was looking did I?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. What are the chances we have neighbours that live in a house exactly the same as we do?"

"Its not entirely impossible."

"Elizabeth you're extremely optimistic, you know that?"

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Lets just wait until we get down there before we go jumping to conclusions." But the closer they got the more they knew the house was the one they had left half an hour ago. "I didn't want to say it first, but that is the same house."

"I thought we weren't jumping to conclusions," said John. "How can you be sure?"

"The same way you know. That, and I can see the bikes the boys left out at the side of the house."

John flicked his eyes up off the road for a second and caught sight of the metallic blue paint from the frame work. "I'm sure I told them to put their bikes away this morning."

Things in the back seat were still quiet and Elizabeth turned to check on them, they were almost catatonic, the way they there staring out the windows, the only movement was when they blinked. "Is everything okay back here?" She asked a little concerned.

Derrel turned his head, blinked, nodded at her then turned back to watch the world blur past them again. It was hardly the answer she was looking for, but they seemed to be fine and she should probably be grateful they weren't all screaming to get out.

John slowed the car and swerved into the field at the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm turning us around. There's no point in going any further, we can see thats the same house we left. We're going back and checking the other roads at that intersection."

They set off again this time taking the road on the left at the lights and once more the direction the road took the was the same, the same corners, the same trees, the same land marks. Coming to the last corner they knew it would take them out beyond the trees that hid the valley and they would see the house. John stopped the car in the middle of the road at the top of the hill and looked out with disbelief. There it was, the house, the valley, even the bikes that had been left outside, the same place they had come from and the same place they kept finding.

"I don't believe it," he muttered into the steering wheel as he bent to rest his head against it.

"John, maybe this is a different house, we should go down a have a look," Elizabeth suggested.

"No, its the same," he assured her sitting up again.

"How do you know?"

"When I turned the car around last time the wheels left impressions on the fresh dirt and there they are."

"What?" Elizabeth leaned over him to see where he was pointing at the ground just outside his side of the car. "That could be tracks from another car." She didn't believe it herself but it was more logical to think that someone else had turned off the road, than thinking they kept driving down the same road no matter which way they turned at the intersection.

"I'll prove it." John was suddenly up and out of the door, moving round to the trunk he opened it, removed something, then came round to the front on Elizabeth's side. The window was open and he leaned through it, "Note if you will, one stuffed toy," he showed her the purple bunny he'd taken from the boot and walked out to the middle of the road placing the toy down on the asphalt.

"John," Elizabeth called through the window, "that's Aleena's favourite! You can't leave it there." She cast a quick look at the back seat, but the kids seemed to oblivious to the fact that they'd stopped as they continued to watch out the windows.

John ignored her protests and got back in the car, starting it up and turned them back up towards the lights.

"Besides upsetting Aleena, what is that going to achieve?" Elizabeth asked him, her frustration seeping through into her voice.

"Just wait," he told her calmly.

They came to the broken set of lights again and John stopped the car. "Now, pick a road, any road."

Willing to see where this was going Elizabeth chose the way they had first come up from this morning and he followed her direction. They sat silently again as the world raced by them until they approached the last corner.

"Are you ready?" John asked her. "Coz I'm willing to change every stinky diaper until Aleena is potty trained if I'm wrong about this."

She expected him to give her a cocky grin to go with this declaration, but his features were tense and his eyes narrowed in concentration as he pulled over. "Look."

He hadn't pointed to anywhere in particular, but she knew what he meant and looked. There it sat. Aleena's favourite stuffed purple bunny, in the middle of the road just waiting for them to pick it up. They both got out the car this time to retrieve the toy.

"How is this possible?" Elizabeth breathed, eyes switching between the toy, the house and John.

"I have no idea. But if there was any doubt before, I think we can say now in all certainty, that something really weird is going on here. It's not just that perfect house," he threw an arm out at it, starting to get angry with their attempts at leaving being thwarted.

Elizabeth reached out to him, holding on to his arms and spoke softly, "I know, but getting mad isn't going to solve anything."

John stared back at her, his usual sparkling eyes had turned hard, he wanted to shout at her, vent his growing anger and anxiety, instead he reached back out to her, crushing their bodies together in a quick embrace. "I sorry," he whispered into her soft curls. "Its just, this place is starting to creep me out. I'm staring to get worried."

"Me too," she admitted. "So what do we do now?"

He raked both hands back through his hair, leaving it sticking out at all angles and expelled a huff as his arms fell back to his sides. "I guess we go back to the house, seeing that's the only place we can go until we think of something else."

She rubbed a hand up and down his back, trying to lend him some comfort. "At least we've got everything we need there."

"Yeah. Come on then, let's get back."

They slid back into their seats once more, and Elizabeth dearly hoped this would be the last stop before they could all get out for good. The continuous stopping and going and driving around in circles all morning was giving her another headache and she couldn't help but wonder if it was due to the effect this place seemed to have on them when they thought too hard about their lives before coming here. Apparently whatever it was, wasn't happy enough in just preventing them from connecting with their pasts, but wanted them to have no chance of future outside of the grounds the house was built on. Well she had no intention of staying here without a reasonable explanation as to what the hell was going on, but they would have to bide their time for now, it would do them no good staying in this car driving down the same damn road any longer.

Finally there was some activity coming from the back seat as they hit the dirt track that went up the rest of the way to the house. Aleena had started babbling happily to herself and flailed her arms in the air, teething ring firmly clutched in her fingers. The boys had managed to drag their attention away from the passenger windows, they began fidgeting and it wasn't long before Tobis exclaimed, "I'm starving! Are we going to eat soon?"

Elizabeth faced them, the boys looked up at her hopefully, their matching dark mass of curly hair flopped over their deep brown liquid eyes. She teased John about how easily he could be brought around to their way of thinking and she knew she just as susceptible to their charm. For the last time John came to a halt and put the car in park, she gave them a warm smile, relieved to see the three of them had come back to life. "Looks like our adventure is over for now, but we've still got a picnic. Why don't you two go in and get a blanket for us to sit on and set it up in the back yard?"

They both jumped out the car at their usual rush around rate and went through the front door before Elizabeth could even get her seat belt off. "I'm glad to see they're back to normal," she sighed opening her door and going round to get Aleena. John had his hands wrapped round the steering wheel in a death grip, he didn't so much as blink as he stared out at the open grassland and the distant hills.

"John, could you please get the hamper out of the trunk?" She said sweetly "My hands are kind of full." Noticing his lack of movement she closed the door and walked around to the driver's side, Aleena now in her arms. "Hey, are you all right?"

He continued to stare out the windshield, his voice was low and flat. "I think I have an idea." Spurred into action, his hand went for the ignition, the engine turned and revved back into life.

"John, where do you think you're going?" Elizabeth demanded, surprised at him.

"I've got to find a way out of this place Elizabeth. I'm going to drive out over the grassland and head for the hills."

"John, a people carrier is not made for that kind of terrain and if you think you're driving off, leaving me and the kids stranded here like this, you've got another thing coming!"

"Well get in and we'll all go, call the boys back, we can eat on the--", he stopped mid sentence as the noise from the motor gave a grunt and died. John started shaking his head, "Oh no, don't even think about it!" He yelled, trying to get the car to start up again.

Elizabeth stood back and watched his futile attempts until he gave up, got out and slammed the door closed, making Aleena jump in Elizabeth's arms.

"You tell me someone isn't playing with us," he stropped and marched past her into the garage at the side of the house.

She followed him in and watched as he rifled through shelves, draws and work desks searching for something. "What is it you're looking for John."

He tossed the lid off a storage container and rummaged about, then emerged with a smaller metal box. "Tools," he said triumphantly. "I'm going to fix the car, then we're going to drive out to those hills. There has to be a way out of here."

The crazed look in his eyes said he wasn't for moving on this one, if he said he wanted to try and fix the car there was not a thing she could say or do to dissuade him. "Fine, you know it won't work, but while you're out here engaging in what will most likely be a exercise in the pointless, I'll have to tell our children their father is too busy to take them swimming like he promised." And with that she left him to it.

John stormed out of the garage and went back to the car, Elizabeth's words stinging him. Tool box in hand he stood staring at the bonnet, knowing full well that she was right, messing around with the engine would be useless. Without even popping the hood he knew he wouldn't be able to find anything wrong with it. He was just so mad and he wanted answers. He chucked the tool box and it clattered to the ground. "Dammit!"

This was no good, he desperately needed to think without the impending headache. He stared out at the vast land and hills again and considered walking out of there. Hell the von Trapps did it, why couldn't they? No, if he was on his own it would be a possibility but he couldn't do that to Elizabeth and the kids. Knowing their luck they'd crest the furthest hill and end up coming back down into the back yard. No, the house was the hub of this crazy little universe, the answer had to be here somewhere. Somewhere.

But he did know somewhere he could think clearly. He could have kicked himself for not thinking about it sooner. That room he found yesterday had to have something to do with it. Even if it was really strange in there, at least he would be able to run through all the things that had been happening to them and try to piece things together. Not bothering to put the tools away he dashed back into the house and headed for the cold room on the third floor.


	7. Chapter 7

Elizabeth had tried to dissuade the boys from going in the pool, but they begged and pleaded and finally she gave in and took a seat on a lounger at the side so she could watch them. Hours passed and still they showed no sign of tiring even though they resembled something more like wrinkled prunes than people. Eventually she had to call them out, it was getting late, John was still outside and she couldn't leave them in here alone while she made the dinner.

In the kitchen Aleena was in her high chair munching on a rusk when the boys came in dried, dressed and hungry.

"Hang on boys, before you sit down, go out front and tell your dad dinner's ready." Elizabeth told them as she struggled with a casserole dish.

They ran out and returned in record time, "Dad's not out there mom," Derrel told her as they sat down and tucked in to the mince and mash potatoes.

"What, are you sure?"

They both nodded their heads, eagerly spooning up their dinner, their mouths too busy to speak.

"Is the car still there?" She asked a little concerned.

More nodding.

"Okay, you two watch your sister while I go find him."

Outside the air had a chill to it, she wrapped her light weight jacket tightly around her. The car was exactly where it had been parked earlier and the tool box sat on it's side, still closed next to it. She called out into the evening for John, but it went unanswered. Several times she called walking around the house, but he was no where to be seen. She started to worry that he had walked off on his own, abandoning them here, then cursed herself for thinking such a thing. John would never leave them here alone. She figured he must have come in and went to check their bedroom. It was cold and empty too. She started to regret saying those things to him before and she couldn't blame him for wanting a bit of space, he had been really angry and she knew he wouldn't want the kids to be upset by his foul mood. She had to tell herself he would come out from wherever he had hidden himself when he was ready.

That time didn't come until hours later. The boys had gone upstairs to play in their rooms and she stayed in the living room with Aleena. When John came in they had just built up a stack of cups, Aleena was poised to knock them down when she saw him and changed her mind. Crawling over to him, she pulled herself up onto her feet clutching at his pant legs, she raised one arm up to him. "Da, da."

John bent down and picked her up. She snuggled in his arms and he gently ran his hand over her head, her baby hair soft on his calloused fingers. "Hey baby," he cooed to her. He looked exhausted, his hair was a mess, not doubt he'd been racking his hands through it, his face was haggard and his eyes were red and puffy.

Elizabeth had moved to sit on the couch and he came to sit next to her. "Sorry for disappearing on you like that." He apologised. "I had to find a place where I could think for a while. I had to find out what was going on."

"And now?"

"Now you need to come with me."

"Why? Do you know what's happening?"

"I think so, but I don't want to tell you straight out, I need to know if you come to realise the same things as me." He stood up and offered her a hand. "Will you come with me?"

"What about the boys?"

"They'll be fine where they are. It shouldn't take too long."

"Okay then." She took his hand and let him lead her upstairs.

The strange room upstairs was still as cold as it had been yesterday, but they didn't stop long enough for it to chill them. Down the spiral staircase and into the room below they went, the candles were lit again and what was left of the daylight shone through the window. John put Aleena in the high chair that wasn't there when he left ten minutes ago then he and Elizabeth took a seat themselves.

"So are you going to tell me what it is I'm supposed to remember?" She asked him.

"I'll guide you through it. I was up here all afternoon just thinking, but you should find it easier to come up with answers when prompted the right way."

"John, you look really upset, is it that bad?"

He ignored her question and asked his own. "What does 'Somnium' mean to you?"

Her brow furrowed in thought, as she rolled the word around her mouth, it had set off the alarm bells in her mind, but the information still lay just beneath the surface. "I know that word."

"Yes you do. It was you who told me what it meant. Nearly a year ago."

She grabbed his forearms, "John, you can remember something that far back?"

"Yes, and even further. Here try this: close your eyes and build the world I'm describing to you in your mind."

She drew in a big breath, closed her eyes and blew it out again, willing herself to relax and focus. "Okay."

"We're standing on a balcony, much bigger than the one in our room, constructed from metal not stone. We're visitors in a city where the architecture is like nothing on Earth we've ever seen before, its an image of beauty and power we could never imagine existed if we hadn't seen it with our own eyes. This place stands taller than any other man made structure and where we are is on the central spire among many soaring towers, in a position to look out over everything below. Take a deep breath now and listen, tell me what you hear."

Elizabeth had allowed herself to be taken to this amazing place, she knew it well, even with the few details John had given her, she felt intimately familiar with it. She took another deep breath and realised there was a salty taste in her mouth, but wasn't surprised by it. She made the image of herself inside her mind take a step forward and let her hands reach out to grip the cool metal railing at the edge of the balcony. Listening carefully she was able to isolate the different sounds around her, until she picked out the one she was looking for, it was like holding a shell up to her ear. "I can hear the ocean."

"Thats good Elizabeth, you're remembering. Now think back to the time when you first heard the name Somnium, we had just met some people and they needed our help very badly, they told us they were the Somnium." John could see she was still having trouble going back to that time, it had been much the same for him, but it was the key to everything he believed was happening to them.

"I can't, I'm being blocked from it." She shook her head, annoyed.

"Thats okay, we can go back to it later. We'll try something else first. Picture the balcony again."

He watched how her features relaxed as she looked for her place again and the hint of a smile that curled the ends of her lips when she got there. He wished she didn't have to find out the awful truth, that she would be free to laugh and smile, but she was too much like him, she wouldn't rest until she knew what had happened to them, as terrifying as it was. The least he could do was support her through this, make it as easy as possible and be there to comfort her when reality came crashing in.

"Right, tell me, being in this city that floats on the surface of the ocean, what myths and legends do you know that could possibly relate to it?"

Elizabeth was frowning again searching through a lifetime of information and if the cocked eyebrow was anything to go by, John reckoned she'd hit on something.

"Oh now that can't be right. Surely, you can't be serious?"

John picked up on her unintentional quote from the movie _Airplane_ and couldn't help himself, "I am serious... And don't call me Shirley!" He cracked.

"Colonel, that was a bad joke from a bad film! Quit messing around and help me."

John froze in his seat, he knew it was a good sign that her memories were coming to her, but hearing her call him that made something inside of him shrivel up and die. Elizabeth however, didn't catch on to how she had addressed him or to the reference she had made and continued to concentrate.

"I can think of one story, but it doesn't quite fit."

All traces of his humour had evaporated. "What if I told you, when we first came to this city, it wasn't where it is now, but lay far below ocean?"

"You mean it's like Atlantis?"

"Not like Atlantis, it is Atlantis."

Suddenly Elizabeth's mind was flooded with hundreds of memories. Her eyes flew open and she could see the city from all different angles, people she knew, places she'd been to, all rushing to her so fast she couldn't process everything. After being mostly redundant since they came to the house, her mind was on over drive now, trying to compensate for its lack of activity.

John gave her a minute to come to terms with it then asked her, "Do you know who you are now?"

She nodded, "I'm Dr Elizabeth Weir."

Until now Elizabeth hadn't realised she couldn't remember her last name, but she'd had no need to use it and no cause to hear it. It wasn't like her kids or husband would call her by it. A finger and thumb absently sought out the band of gold on her left hand and twirled it.

John could see she wasn't all the way there yet as she played with the ring. With his hands he held onto hers, stopping her nervous fidgeting. He hated himself for having to give her the nudge she needed to come the rest of the way, but it had to be done. "I'm glad you can remember who you are, but now tell me, who am I?"

She was a little confused, "I thought you said you knew?"

They sat so very close together and he tightened his grip on her hands. "Elizabeth, please. Just tell me who I am."

"Fine. You are Lieutenant Colonel John--" She couldn't believe what she was saying or how much the truth behind those simple words hurt her. Finally she knew who they were and had her suspicions about how they had come to be here and for all she was worth she wished she had never questioned how they had come to live in this picture of domestic bliss.

Seeing Elizabeth so hurt like this John wanted to reach out to her, put his arms around her and tell her everything would be all right. Certainly he would have done this if he still believed he was her husband, and even on Atlantis, had they been alone, he would have offered her some kind of physical reassurance, but now? He was equally scared to move any closer or withdraw his hands and back off a few steps. He couldn't tell how she would want him to react. He worried he'd make her feel uncomfortable and the thought of her rejecting his touch pained him to the core. Who was he supposed to be? John or Colonel Sheppard?

The truth of the matter was, even now their real identities were known to them, he still loved her, still felt like they were in this relationship and were partners in life and not just thrown together by chance working on some joint venture under extraordinary circumstances. All he could do was watch her, wait for her to decide what it was she needed and be ready to give it to her. All the colour had drained from her beautiful face, moisture gathered in her eyes making them glisten in the candle light, but she didn't cry. When this revelation was made apparent to him, it was brutal and shocking, there was no one to ease him through it. John had taken it a lot worse than her, getting incredibly angry, but then he was unable to keep himself from breaking down.

In the time they had been here, Elizabeth had the liberty to show her emotions, express her feelings and not have to keep track of how her behaviour may appear in public and now, already the mask that Dr Weir presented to all but the few people she trusted most was changing the way she appeared. Still though, she clung to his hands, not letting go of that link between them. John was tracing small circles with his thumb on her soft skin, there was still hope for them yet he hoped.

The tingling sensation he was causing in her made Elizabeth look down and watch the way he was gently caressing her hand. She felt broken up, unable to define the parameters of the different nature of their relationships. She knew he was the head of the military contingency in Atlantis and in her capacity as leader of the expedition they had to work closely to assure the safety and well being of everyone else. Because of this they had become more than just colleagues, they were friends, and their near isolation meant they had a bond that went further than that. And this is where things started to get grey for her. She knew that without him, the pain of loosing him, it would be unbearable. He was such an important fixture in her life, someone she depended on to let her know if her choices were for the best for those who relied on them. He was always the one person she could turn to if she was in need of council when she doubted herself and guided her to the right decisions. They would spend time together out on the balcony, sometimes not a word would be spoken, they'd just be there for each other, a silent exchange of comfort and support. But now there was this whole other experience to contend with too. As well as their lives on Atlantis, they both knew of this existence where they lived together as a married couple with three young children who they loved dearly.

She was becoming increasingly aware of his touch now and how good it felt. The small circles radiating warmth out from her hands to the rest of her body until she was burning to touch him back. In that moment she didn't care who they were supposed to be or the boundaries they had to respect, it was just the two of them here so who would care if she threw her arms around him and let him hold her tight? And if her hunch was true and they were dead or close to it, what difference would it make to take comfort in each other now? The only reason he hadn't done so already was because even in this predicament he was letting her choose how they would proceed. Well she had made her choice and didn't delay any longer in taking action. In a sudden rush she was wrapping her arms round his neck, her head buried in his shoulder while he wound his hands around her waist and for a moment they remained like this.

Elizabeth risked a glance at Aleena, quietly sitting in her high chair and it nearly broke her heart. This beautiful little girl was not their own, nor were the boys. "So what are we going to do now?" She asked, her words muffled by his shirt.

John's hand stroked the back of her head catching her curls in his fingers and twirling them gently. "I don't honestly know if there's anything we can do. You've seen this place, there doesn't seem to be a way out."

She sighed heavily. "Maybe, but I remember now though."

John pulled back slightly to look down at her. "The Somnium?"

"The Somnium," she nodded. "I don't think this would have been possible without them."

"So you think what they told us about their spiritual beliefs were true? You think we could be dead?"

"Standing here now, can you doubt it? I think this pretty much proves what they believe."

"That would mean the boys, maybe even Aleena are responsible for most of this, but how could they know about so much that is typical of Earth. Look at the house, the car, the things we have here, they don't know what that stuff is."

"I guess it's possible that being here is because of their ability, but this place is based on our knowledge." Had they not been marooned in purgatory, Elizabeth would have found it all intriguing, but this was hardly the time to get into the semantics.

Outside it was completely dark now, the ghostly light from the candles was all that was left for them to both see the room they were standing in, in the house they had found when neither of them knew where they were going.

"The last thing I can remember of my life before coming here is hearing the landslide on the mountain and being in that cave with you, the boys, Aleena, Talen and Marai," she told him.

"Okay, let's say I buy the whole 'we can make what we want of the hereafter' line, that much is evident I guess, but what about Talen and Marai? Shouldn't they be here with us?"

"I suppose so, but who knows?" Tired of trying to make any more sense of this she pulled him tighter, needing the closeness and for once not afraid to ask for it. At least if they were dead they were still aware of each other, things could definitely be much worse.

John was more than happy to comply with her little tug and pulled her close to him, but there was something she hadn't thought of yet. "Maybe we should bring the boys down here? Ask them if they know anything?"

He felt her go still under his hands and knew like him, she didn't want to scare the children, but if there was anyway to figure this out, the boys appeared to be their only hope. Stepping back a little from him, Elizabeth shook her head softly, "John..."

"I know," he cut off her protest before she could start. "I love them and want to protect them too," he said, then added hesitantly, "all of you, but we need to find out what happened if we can."

His admission had shocked and thrilled her all at once. They had been very open with their affections here all along, however this was the first time either of them had said those words knowing exactly who they were. He remained where he was as she moved to him again leaving a tender kiss on his lips letting him know she felt the same for him. "I'll go get them if you want to stay with Aleena?"

"Sure." Was all he could manage as he watched her go back to the stairs.


	8. Chapter 8

While waiting for Elizabeth to return he turned his attention to the baby he had come to love as his own child and sat in a chair next to her, humming softly to her, letting her catch his hands then pull a finger into her mouth to work it on her swollen gums where a new tooth would be trying to push through soon. He felt the sharp little bite of her teeth and wondered how any of this could not be real. This illusion was amazing, how it gave them most everything they needed or wanted, a loving family, a wonderful home. Some people would be awfully tempted to just accept what had happened and stay. John thought if that would be such a bad idea, if he and Elizabeth gave in to it all, try and live with the kids with what they had here. He could do that if it meant they could be together.

This was his line of thought as Elizabeth led the boys down the stairs and out into the strange room and now, looking over his family he didn't know if he would be able to leave them.

"Wow dad, did you really find that room upstairs?" Derrel inquired as he came over to stand near John.

John nodded, seeing the impressed look in the boy's eyes. "Yes."

"Wow," he said again. "Even we didn't find something that good."

Elizabeth doubted that for some reason. She pulled out a chair for Derrel while Tobis climbed up into John's lap. John held on to him tight, the younger boy hugging him back. Elizabeth crouched down holding onto Derrel's chair to steady herself as she came down to his level. "Boys, we have to have a little talk with you about something really important, and we'd like you to be honest with us if you know anything."

"Are we in trouble?" Derrel asked her, signs of worry on his face.

"Yeah, because we didn't mean to break the big flower pot outside, it was an accident when we were playing football, and it wasn't really our fault--"

"No, its all right, nobody is in trouble." Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at Tobis' confession, she already knew about the big crack in the ceramic pot. The day before she had heard the boy's playful chatter abruptly go quiet and had discovered them as they tried to repair the damage with their Play-Doh, then drag the pot to face the wall, hiding their crime. Their actions had made her laugh and she was very impressed with their efforts to fix it, so she let them think they had gotten away with it. "We'd like to talk about why we're all here. Okay?"

There were nods from both of them. Where was she supposed to start this conversation? She sighed, taking a look at John. He still had a secure grip on Tobis but his eyes were glassy, staring out into nothingness. He looked so sad right then, holding on to the young boy like he was the last connection to the happiness they had all shared for such a short time.

"Do you mean why you wanted to leave our new house mom?" Tobis asked suddenly.

"They still want to leave." Derrel told his brother.

"Why? Don't you like it here?"

Okay, she would have approached the subject a little more gently but this was as good a place as any to start. "We like the house fine, it's just, we like where we lived before."

"But we weren't together before," Tobis said sadly.

"If we go back there you won't be our mom and dad anymore. We like it here. Going back means we won't see each other anymore."

"Well of course we'll see each other." Elizabeth reached out to both boys to rub their arms, she was starting to get the picture here. "If we can go back to the other place, we can all be together if that's what you want."

They didn't look at all convinced, so she tried something else. "You two seem to know a lot about this place, do you know how we got here?"

"We're here because something bad happened in the other place." Derrel tried to explain. "I remember being in the cave..."

"Then it was dark, but we could see shapes..." Tobis continued.

"We could touch the shapes and make things from them," Derrel went on again. "When it started to get lighter again we could see what we had made."

"You mean the house?" Elizabeth asked.

The boys nodded.

It was what she had expected to hear, but to have it confirmed was truly amazing. The boys were responsible for them all being here, the house was something they had created from their minds and had made them all a family. She supposed it made sense really, the boys were orphaned and if there was anything they could have wanted in their lives it would have been loving parents and somewhere safe to call home. That explained what they were doing here, and why they couldn't seem to leave. The boys had said as much themselves, they didn't want to. "What about the room upstairs? What's it's purpose?"

Both boys seem reluctant to give her an explanation. Tobis was looking up at his big brother now, a pleading look in his eyes that Elizabeth or John would have found impossible to resist. Derrel held his gaze though until the younger boy blinked then gave the tiniest of nods. Apparently in their private communication they had come to some kind of agreement.

Derrel finally looked back to Elizabeth. "You promise we can still be together if we go back to the other place?"

She had hoped to confer with John first before she made any promises that would involve the two of them, but nothing short of physically shaking him out of the trance he was in would provoke a response. "If we can get back the other place and its still something you both want, we will speak with your people and ask their permission for you to stay with us." Spoken like a true diplomat. Always leave an out clause.

The boys seemed to hold a silent conversation between themselves again, then came to their feet. Tobis got down from John's knee "The room upstairs is a warning, it lets you know if you get too close, so you don't leave by accident," He began to explain."When you first arrive here, there is time to decide if you wish to remain, but once that time expires, you wouldn't be able to find a way out."

Getting instructions on the afterlife from a five year old boy would probably have been a little more disturbing, that is, if they had not been in the afterlife at the time. "So, you're saying we must still be alive if we've got the chance to leave here?" Elizabeth asked.

Both the boys shrugged when she looked at them. She would have liked a bit more reassurance on the probability of them coming away from unscathed, but it didn't appear she would get it.

Tobis started to make his way round to the locked kitchen door, "We have to go out this way." He reached out, took hold of the knob in his small hand and doing what all of John's strength couldn't, opened the kitchen door.

Elizabeth shielded her eyes as daylight came flooding in through the open door, outside the windows the world was still the same dark night it had been a moment ago. Before she could say a word, Tobis crossed the threshold his small form swallowed by the light and she staggered forward crying out his name, the sudden loss of his presence in this little world was like having the oxygen sucked out of the room.

Derrel had picked up Aleena out of her high chair and held her at an awkward angle against his side, his arms still too small to hold her comfortably, as he too started towards the door. Stopping before he followed his brother, he turned back to Elizabeth and John, "You must both step through the doorway. I don't think you two will be allowed to stay here much longer now we have started our journey back to the other place."

Looking at the small boy who had made them believe he was their son, Elizabeth recognised a change in his young features, she could see a wisdom there that was beyond anything she could hope to comprehend in her lifetime. Derrel inclined his head slightly to the room behind them then stepped through the door, Aleena still in his arms.

The pressure on her lungs increased again making it harder still to draw a good breath. She turned then to see where Derrel had indicated and to her horror discovered the far end of the room had started to disappear. A darkness, something so much more than just the absence of light had poured in from the pantry and was slowly inching its way closer and closer to them. If it were true and the children were responsible for building the world they were living in, she had no doubt that now they had gone this place would no longer support her and John's existence.

"John!" Elizabeth reached out and grabbed his shoulder shaking him back to awareness. He was beginning to worry her, he hadn't moved since she had brought the boys down here. "John, come on, we have to leave now," she told him as calmly as she could.

Finally stirring from wherever his mind had taken him, he looked at her. "Why?"

"John please, there isn't a lot of time right now." She took his hand and he let her pull him reluctantly to his feet. The room was loosing space faster now as she led him to the door.

With just a precious few feet to go John stopped withdrawing his hand from Elizabeth's grasp. "Wait." While she had been talking to the boys, trying to convince them to take them back to the real world, he had been thinking. Thinking about them, the life they had been living, the children and about how all of that would be gone again if they ever made it back to Atlantis. In his time alone in here during the afternoon, he had managed to piece together what was happening to them and the part of him that was Colonel Sheppard demanded they find a solution and get back to the place they belonged. Though now the moment of truth had arrived he wasn't sure he really wanted to leave at all. What more could he want from life than this little family and all it gave him?

"Wait?" She asked, and incredulous expression on her face, "John we have to go now!"

"I don't know if I want to go back to that life Elizabeth. What we have here, why would we want to leave?"

"John, this isn't living. It may have seemed like it for a while, but we can't stay here." She nervously eyed the void engulfing the room behind him. There wasn't much time left now. "There is nothing to stay for anymore." She gently turned him back to face the room so he could see for himself what was left of their world.

John didn't want to believe her but his eyes widened at what he saw, there was no more than six feet between them and whatever it was. Okay, he was convinced, it was definitely time to go. He started them towards the door again but at the last second stopped again, "Wait!"

"John!"

"Just a second, I have to ask you something."

"Can't it wait?"

"No, it has to be now. We might not even remember any of what's happened to us. We might not survive at all." His hands came up and cupped her face. "You told the boys if we make it back we could still be together. What about us? If we somehow get back to our old lives, can we still be together?"

Elizabeth laid a hand against his cheek as her other arm snuck around his waist pulling him close. "Remember this," she breathed. Bringing her lips up to his, her kisses told him her answer. Just like the first night they were together here, she backed him through the door taking the last couple of steps together, guiding them back to the life that was waiting for them in the other place.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, that's it. Thank you everyone for reading my fic! I know this probably isn't the ending some were expecting, but I didn't want to give a definite answer to what would happen to them. After all it is the afterlife and personally I haven't quite made up my mind on it either. This idea that, once you've stumbled and struggled through this life, you finally reach a place where you can control all the things you couldn't before just sounds very appealing. Hopefully though you've enjoyed reading it and for those of you who haven't decided what happens to us either, it's given you something to think about. Or maybe I'm asking for too much there! So, any feedback would of course be wonderful and if anyone wishes, I'd be happy to discuss their personal afterlife theories at my livejournal. Thanks.


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